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Knoxville lawyer Pamela Reeves’ nomination to become a federal judge for East Tennessee stalled Monday night after U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander blocked a vote on dozens of appointments, Knoxnews reports. Alexander’s objection did not appear to be directed at Reeves or any particular nominee, but instead at Democrats’ decision to change Senate rules to prevent Republicans from filibustering certain court appointments. Reid had attempted to move the nominations as a group. Now he has begun scheduling votes on individual nominees. Today, that strategy worked with the Senate approving the nomination of Patricia Millett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Blog of Legal Times has that story.

The Knoxville News Sentinel predicts that recent changes to Senate rules will clear the way for attorney Pamela Reeves to be confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Though no senator has expressed opposition to Reeves, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had threatened to hold up all of the president’s nominees until witnesses were made available to testify about last year’s deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Seven Tennessee lawyers were admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court during admission ceremonies last week in Washington, D.C. The annual event, known as TBA Academy, is two-day program that includes continuing legal education seminars, a tour of the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol, and the swearing in ceremony. Lawyers admitted were Daniel Berexa, Molly Glover, Gregory Groth, Angela Bolton Rauber, TBA President-elect Jonathan O. Steen, David Veile and District Attorney General Randy York. See photos from the event.

Four legally married same-sex couples, who recently filed a federal lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s refusal to respect their marriages, today asked the district court for immediate protection of their families while the lawsuit proceeds. The petitioners argue such an order is necessary because the state’s refusal to respect their marriages is putting their families at risk of serious harm. The four couples filed suit on Oct. 21, arguing that Tennessee laws prohibiting recognition of their marriages violate the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection, due process and the right to travel between and move to other states. The case is being handled locally by Nashville lawyers Abby Rubenfeld, William Harbison, Scott Hickman, Phil Cramer and John Farringer; Memphis lawyer Maureen Holland; and Knoxville lawyer Regina Lambert with support from the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Read more in a press release from the group or download the motion for preliminary injunction and supporting memo.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee is seeking comments from members of the bar and the public as to whether U.S. Magistrate Judge John S. Bryant should be recommended for reappointment to a new eight-year term. Bryant's current term will expire on Aug. 2, 2014. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. Central time on Dec. 2. They may be submitted via email to Keith Throckmorton, the court clerk, or by mail to Clerk of Court, Estes Kefauver Federal Courthouse, 801 Broadway, Room 800, Nashville, TN 37203. Read the details in the public notice.

Memphis lawyer and U.S. District Court nominee, Sheryl H. Lipman appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday with two other district judgeship nominees from Illinois and Washington state, and a Kansas Supreme Court justice tapped for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Lipman, who is general counsel for the University of Memphis, was nominated by President Barack Obama for the Western District of Tennessee post after Judge Jon P. McCalla announced he was taking senior status. During the confirmation hearing Lipman was asked about the Derrick Rose eligibility scandal that invalidated the University of Memphis’ 2007-2008 basketball season and about her role with Planned Parenthood. According to the Commercial Appeal, no date has been set for a confirmation vote.

Middle Tennessee’s newly appointed top federal prosecutor vowed to carry on the priorities of his predecessor -- aggressively investigating health care fraud and pursuing stiff penalties against gangs -- after being sworn in last week as U.S. Attorney. David Rivera, who had been serving as “acting” U.S. attorney since Jerry Martin stepped down, now will serve in the top job for 120 days. After that, he will have to nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Congress, The Tennessean reports. Rivera has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the office since 2004. Before moving to Tennessee, he worked in federal prosecutors’ offices in Puerto Rico, Florida and New York.

Knoxville lawyer and former TBA President Pamela Reeves is awaiting the U.S. Judiciary Committee’s next move after it postponed a meeting on Thursday. Reeves, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Thomas W. Phillips, appeared in Washington on Sept. 26 before the committee as part of the confirmation process. The committee was to decide whether to send her nomination on to the full Senate for consideration. No reason was given for the postponement. Knoxnews has more.

University of Tennessee College of Law professors George Kuney and Donna Looper have authored a new book: A Civil Matter: A Guide to Civil Procedure and Litigation, both as a print edition and an e-book. Published by West, the book is a concise overview of the civil litigation process under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and follows a diversity car accident case from the district court to post-trial proceedings and settlement before retrial. The authors report that the book is intended as an introduction and overview for those unfamiliar with civil litigation and who need to develop a detailed understanding of the nuts and bolts of the process quickly and efficiently.

More than 18,000 Justice Department employees who were furloughed during the shutdown, including a significant number of lawyers who handle civil matters, will return to court after an untold number of cases were put on hold, the Blog of the Legal Times reports. Main Justice and U.S. attorney's offices nationwide asked courts to postpone civil litigation, citing the lack of appropriations. Some judges granted blanket stays, while other judges made case-by-case decisions. In a letter this morning to the entire department, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said he was "grateful to be able to welcome the entire Department of Justice back to work."

The budget deal Congress approved late yesterday to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling provides $51 million in additional funding for the judiciary and federal defenders. In the bill, $1.01 billion would go to defender services, marking a $26 million annual increase over Fiscal Year 2013 for attorneys who represent indigent defendants, said Charles Hall, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The extra funding would primarily go to pay the backlog of attorney fees under the Criminal Justice Act, which funds court-appointed private counsel. Overall, the judiciary budget would increase from about $6.65 billion to about $6.7 billion. The Blog of the Legal Times has the story.

The federal judiciary will hand over more than 66,300 square feet of underused office space in 31 court buildings across the county, saving $1.7 million in annual rent, the Blog of the Legal Times reports. Space in the offices will be returned to the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages court facilities, as part of a series of cost-saving measures the federal judiciary adopted to cope with budget cuts.

After 35 years of service, U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Wiseman is leaving the bench, the Tennessean reports. Wiseman, 82, was appointed in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter, and helped Middle Tennessee navigate the long legal journal to progress on race, health care for the poor and the war on drugs. He tentatively plans to leave office this Friday. He leaves a legacy as a “very careful, humane and wise judge, a model for other judges to follow,” said Gilbert Merritt, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals senior judge.

In light of the government shutdown, Justice Department lawyers asked for a stay in the US Airways-American Airlines antitrust case, but the judge denied the request this afternoon. “Because of the need for the prompt resolution of this matter, the Court has set an expedited discovery and trial schedule. A stay at this point would undermine this schedule and delay the necessary speedy disposition of this matter. It is essential that the Department of Justice attorneys continue to litigate this case,” U.S. District Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote in the opinion. WRCB TV and the Blog of Legal Times have more on the story.

Citing the government shutdown, which started at 12:01 a.m. today, U.S. Justice Department lawyers are urging federal judges to stay civil cases. Federal prosecutors across the country started filing requests for extensions yesterday in civil cases in anticipation of the shutdown and judges agreed to cancel settlement conferences and other hearings scheduled for this week. The Blog of Legal Times looks at the issue and the impact of the shutdown on the D.C. Superior Court and D.C. Court of Appeals.

The Senate this afternoon approved a bill designed to avoid a partial government shutdown next week, CBS News reports, but the legislation now returns to the House where Republican leaders have already said they won't pass the Senate bill. If that happens and the government partially shuts down on Oct. 1, the federal judiciary says it will remain open for business for approximately 10 days. “On or around Oct. 15, the Judiciary will reassess its situation and provide further guidance," according to a press release from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. "All proceedings and deadlines remain in effect as scheduled, unless otherwise advised.”

Former TBA President, Knoxville lawyer and federal judicial nominee Pamela Reeves faces a hearing Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Reeves has been nominated to replace Judge Thomas W. Phillips on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Phillips retired on Aug. 1. The committee has announced that in addition to Reeves, it will consider nominations for the Tenth Circuit and two other district courts on Wednesday. Knoxnews also reports that Reeves has already met with Sen. Bob Corker about her nomination.

Nashville attorney Patrick Frogge, who frequently represents indigent federal defendants, has been selected as Panel Lawyer of the Year by Federal Public Defender Henry Martin and former recipients of the award. He will be honored at the 22nd annual Criminal Justice Act Panel Appreciation Banquet Oct. 9 in Nashville, The Tennessean reports. Speaking about Frogge, Martin said he “represents the underdogs” and “continues to show that he’s a lawyer for the people” having worked on thousands of cases. Frogge earned his law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1999. He worked as Nashville’s assistant public defender before entering private practice in 2005.

The nonprofit group Justice at Stake and 26 other nonpartisan organizations joined together in a letter to members of the U.S. Congress today urging them to provide proper resources for the federal judiciary. The appeal cites data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts that sequestration already has resulted in cuts of $350 million. “These cut threaten to erode several core constitutional values, including the right to a jury trial and due process, and threaten to make illusory key statutory rights, such as the right to a speedy trial,” the groups wrote. Read more from Gavel Grab or download a copy of the letter, which includes the list of participating groups.

Retired federal judge Michael A. Lasher Jr. of Germantown died Sunday (Sept. 15). Lasher, 81, graduated from the University of Louisville School of Law and practiced law in Phoenix before becoming a judge with the Bureau of Mine Safety. His work took him to Washington, D.C., and Denver. Lasher moved to Germantown 20 years ago after retiring from government service. A private graveside service will be held at Calvary Cemetery in Memphis. The family suggests that memorials be made to the Memphis Humane Society, 935 Farm Rd., Memphis, TN 38134. The Commercial Appeal has more on his life.

U.S. District Judge and former TBA President J. Daniel Breen assumed the position of chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee this week. Judge Breen, who has served on the court since March 2003, began his judicial career in 1991 as a magistrate judge in the Western District. He served in that capacity until nominated to the district court by President George W. Bush. Judge Breen earned his law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1975. Read the announcement from the court.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says he expects to announce new cases related to the financial meltdown in the coming months. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Holder said, "My message is, anybody who's inflicted damage on our financial markets should not be of the belief that they are out of the woods because of the passage of time. If any individual or if any institution is banking on waiting things out, they have to think again." According to the story, recent disclosures indicate the government is pursuing prosecutions related to suspected wrongdoing in the mortgage-backed securities industry and manipulation of the energy market. (Subscription required)

Members of the U.S. Supreme Court continue to communicate with one another through memos printed on ivory paper even as they face cases related to emerging technology and electronic snooping, Justice Elena Kagan admitted Tuesday. In an appearance at Brown University, Kagan said the justices have a ways to go to understand technologies such as Facebook, Twitter and even email. While clerks email one another, she said, "The court hasn't really 'gotten to' email." When asked how the court will approach issues such as technology and privacy, Kagan said, "I think we're going to have to be doing a lot of thinking about that." WRCB-TV has more from the AP.

The first of what could be several lawsuits against Vanderbilt University Medical Center in relation to a recent round of job cuts was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Nashville, The Tennessean reports. The suit alleges the hospital violated the Family and Medical Leave Act by targeting certain employees to cut. “While VUMC has yet to publicly comment on the precise criteria utilized in selecting employees to terminate, some employees were targeted as a direct result of having exercised their rights pursuant to the FMLA,” argues Nashville civil rights attorney George Barrett and former U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin, both with Barrett Johnston LLC, who are representing the plaintiff.

The federal courts say that private lawyers paid to act as federal public defenders will have their salaries cut as part of an attempt to survive government cost-cutting measures, the Associated Press reports. The Judicial Conference of the United States announced Monday it would reduce by $15 an hour the pay of "panel attorneys." The pay for non-capital cases will drop from $125 per hour to $110. The pay for capital cases will drop from a maximum of $179 per hour to $164. The cuts are scheduled to start in September and be in place for the next year. More than 10,000 lawyers serve as panel attorneys, representing defendants financially unable to retain counsel in federal criminal proceedings. WRCB-TV has the story.